Robel Phillipos among UMass Dartmouth students charged

Lawyers for a man charged with lying to investigators after the Boston Marathon bombings are asking a federal judge to release him from jail, saying he had nothing to do with the deadly bombings and isn't a flight risk.

Robel Phillipos, 19, of Cambridge, faces a detention hearing Monday in U.S. District Court. Defense attorneys said in court documents filed Saturday that authorities' claim that Phillipos gave them conflicting accounts is "refutable."

"This case is about a frightened and confused 19 year old who was subjected to intense questioning and interrogation, without the benefit of counsel, and in the context of one of the worst attacks against the nation," lawyers Derege Demissie and Susan Church wrote. "The weight of the federal government under such circumstances can have a devastatingly crushing effect on the ability of an adolescent to withstand the enormous pressure and respond rationally."

Phillipos was charged last week with lying to investigators about visiting bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's college dorm room on April 18, three days after the bombings. Two other friends were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice by taking a backpack with fireworks and a laptop from Tsarnaev's dorm room.

Phillipos was at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where all four men had studied, by coincidence on April 18, his lawyers said in the court papers. He had taken a leave of absence in December and hadn't spoken to Tsarnaev or the other two men for more than two months, they said.

"By sheer coincidence and bad luck, he was invited to attend a seminar on campus on April 18," the night the three allegedly went to Tsarnaev's dorm room, according to the documents. "As such, he did not have much to offer the authorities regarding the investigation of the suspect."

To support their request for bail, the lawyers filed affidavits from friends and relatives of Phillipos who described him as a considerate, thoughtful and friendly young man, the son of a single mother who emigrated to the United States from Ethiopia. They said he wasn't a flight risk, noting that he is lifelong resident of Massachusetts and has many relatives there.

Phillipos faces a maximum of eight years behind bars and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

Tsarnaev and his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, are accused of carrying out the April 15 bombing, which used pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails, ball bearings and metal shards. The attack killed three people and injured more than 260 others near the marathon's finish line.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a gunfight with police days later. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was captured and remains in a prison hospital. He has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction and faces a potential death sentence if convicted.

FROM BOSTON PLUS NEWS LEADER, THIS IS THE NEWS AT 11:00. A CAMBRIDGE TEENAGER JAILED IN THE ATTACK CASE LOOKING FOR BELL. GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. HIS LAWYERS SAY HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BOMBING AND THEY CALLED ON A JUDGE TO RELEASE HIM. THAT IS ONE OF THE NEW DEVELOPMENTS. 11 MINUTES OF NONSTOP NEWS BEGINS WITH KIMBERLY BOOKMAN IN CAMBRIDGE. ON, THIS IS WHERE THE TEENAGER LIVED WITH HIS MOM. ON THE SAME DAY THEIR EFFORTS TRIED TO FREE HIM, INVESTIGATORS ARE FOCUSING ON THE WINDOW -- WIDOW. THOSE THAT LOVED THIS 19-YEAR- OLD TEENAGER ARE PUTTING WITH AUTHORITIES TO LET HIM GO. IN COURT PAPERWORK FILED ON SATURDAY, EIGHT PEOPLE, INCLUDING HIS MOTHER, DESCRIBED HIM AS KIND AND PEACEFUL. HIS ATTORNEYS SAY DESPITE CHARGES HE LIED TO AUTHORITIES, HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BOSTON BOMBINGS. THEY ALLEGE SHE WAS SUBJECTED TO INTERROGATION WITHOUT COUNSEL AND THAT IMPACTED HIS ABILITY TO RESPOND RATIONALLY. THEY SAY THE CHARGE HAS RUINS -- RUIN HIS FUTURE AND HE COMMITTED -- IS COMMITTED TO CLEARING HIS NAME. INVESTIGATORS WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT A PHONE CALL BETWEEN TAMERLAN TSARNAEV AND HIS WIFE DAYS AFTER THE ATTACK. THERE WAS A CONTINUING CRIMINAL ACTIVITY SHE MAY HAVE ABETTED BY A PHONE CALL IF SHE WARNS THEM AND CAUSED THEM TO SCURRY FROM THEIR HIDING PLACES AND KILL THE MIT OFFICER. THE GOVERNMENT CAN ACCESS PHONE COMPANIES WITH A COURT ORDER. AND FINALLY, CEMETERIES IN THREE STATES HAVE REFUSED TO BURY TAMERLAN TSARNAEV'S BODY. THEY WANT HIM FREED ON MONDAY.